Hidden Princess and a Lost Ranger
by Nanso
Summary: Another dragon princess survived and goes beyond the Wall to help a few others. One-shot.


The dreams started a few days after the attack in Kings Landing after she and her mother were saved by the nice, bearded man.

But they'd been too late for her brother. She'd heard a monster smashed him against a wall.

First it was nightmares of the attack. And then eventually they became something else - not scary, but not comforting either.

But they'd been helpful too. They helped her find her dragon egg.

And it was how she found herself atop her now quite-grown dragon, Sunwater, flying across the snowy landscape of the North towards the Wall, her dark hair occasionally flicking against her face.

As they neared it, she nearly lost her grasp on the dragon. It was huge. A huge, long endless wall of ice.

"What in the fuck? How did anyone make that?" she asked the dragon. He huffed in response.

_"Come soon, fire daughter. They will need your help."_

"I'm coming! It's fucking cold, you know. And we're going as fast as he can," she grumbled out loud to the voice, unsure if he could even hear her.

She didn't know who the voice was. He sounded old. And sometimes quite demanding. But he had come to her many times in the past and she had grown oddly fond of him. Would she meet him finally?

_"You are close. When you find them, there is one more you must seek out." _And then a vision of a thatch of trees and a cave before an arrow-shaped mountain flashed in her mind and was gone just as quickly.

_"Remember that, for I will be gone soon."_

And then the connection was cut.

"NO!" she screamed.

They flew a bit longer. She felt a pang of emptiness with the cord to the voice cut, but they flew on anyways. Eventually Sunwater began to descend, as though he knew where they needed to go. As they neared the ground, she saw a small figure pulling a huge sled or something of the like.

And then she saw a horde of….things. Fast, too fast.

"Gods...what are those…?" Before she even knew what was happening she shouted, "Dracarys!"

Flames and shrieks filled the air as Sunwater doused the...things...in fire. When it seemed like the last had been killed, they landed on the ground and she dropped down to go to small figure. She realized then that there was a boy on the sled.

"Are you two alright?"

They stared at her, mouths open. They looked at the dragon and back at her.

The young woman who had been pulling the sled finally spoke. "Who...who are you?"

"My name is Rhaenys. Who are you?"

* * *

After she and the girl, Meera, had found a way to get the young crippled boy, Bran, onto the dragon, she flew them to the Wall before Bran told her to descend.

_He's as demanding as the old man, Gods,_ she thought to herself.

She did as he said, though she wasn't sure why.

"Why did you want to stop here? I should take you across the Wall, it's not safe here," she told him as she and Meera lowered him down.

"I need to see, please take me to that tree," he said, nodding towards the large white weirwood.

She and Meera placed him in front of the tree gently.

"What do you need to see?" she asked cautiously. "And what do you mean? What does a tree have to do with it?"

He looked at her and then placed a hand on the bark and his eyes flashed white, as though they'd rolled back. Rhaenys screamed and shook him before Meera gently took her hands off of Bran.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. It's...how he sees."

"This is it, I've finally gone mad. This is the Targaryen madness finally rearing its head," she muttered.

After some time, his eyes returned to normal. He was out of breath and tired it seemed. She handed him her waterskin.

"I know where you must go," he said, handing the skin back to her. "For the other you must save."

She blinked at him. "You know. How do you know?" And then she realized. "He told you?"

"I just know."

She let out an exasperated sigh. _Cryptic, this one._

"Alright, well, I saw a brief vision of where I'm supposed to go to save whoever this is that needs help. But if you can perhaps at least give me some directions, that might make my task easier."

The young Stark was finally a bit more descriptive and gave her a clearer idea of where she needed to go.

"Well, what about you two? Where can I take you?"

Bran shook his head. "No, you need to go now. We will be fine, we're not far from the Wall, we'll be alright. Oh, there's one more thing," he said, nodding to Meera. She went to the sled and pulled something off of it, handing it to Rhaenys.

Rhaenys looked down in shock.

"Dark Sister."

* * *

They flew west, following the directions Bran had laid out for them as best he could. Finally the vision that had flashed before her came into view.

"Gods, how did he do that? No matter, let's go," she said to Sunwater. Once they were on the ground, she looked around trying to figure out where to go next until she saw a small opening in the thick of the trees. Telling Sunwater to stay where he was, she walked through the trees and came upon an entrance to a cave.

When she walked in, she felt a bit of warm air upon her skin and it felt wondrous after the stinging cold. As she went further in, she heard a groan. Turning a corner, she came upon a man lying on the ground, bruised and bloody. When he saw her, he startled but didn't seem to be able to rise at the moment.

"Who are you?" he asked in a strained, alarmed voice.

She ran to him and knelt down, looking at his face. He looked a bit familiar to her but she couldn't place why. He was tall with a long, pale face. He had raven dark hair and a beard that matched.

"I guess I'm your knight in…," she looked down "dull leather and wool armour." She inspected his injuries, he did not look well at all. "Gods, what happened to you? And who are _you?_" she asked him.

"I was taken prisoner by some wildlings, I only escaped recently but...I couldn't get much farther." He leaned back down, closing his eyes, clearly exhausted. "Oh, and my name is Benjen. Benjen Stark."

* * *

After Rhaenys had Sunwater hunt for some food, she helped Benjen to eat and drink. She gave him the quickest summary possible of how she was alive before moving onto the news of Bran and Meera. To say he was in shock that his nephew had gone so far past the Wall would be an understatement. He seemed too weak to move, so they decided to wait at least a day until he felt like he could climb onto the dragon and hold onto her.

At the very least, they were in a cave with hot springs so it wasn't freezing. "What did they want from you?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. "I think they thought they could ransom me to the Night's Watch or my brother in order to let them cross. I thought they were fools until I finally saw...what they were fleeing."

She nodded thinking that over. "Benjen, when I found Meera and Bran...those things...they looked like skeletons of some kind. I…"

"Wights," he said grimly, his voice low.

"What are they?" she asked in a whisper.

"The dead - they live in a certain way, but they're dead all the same."

The old man and his voice, a boy talked and saw through trees and now the dead...who live? She took a deep breath, gazing up, trying to make sense of it all.

_At least this current bizarre encounter is with someone easy on the eyes,_ she thought wryly. He really was - tall, though a bit thin, with sharp cheekbones, long dark hair and stormy blue-grey eyes. Though he also looked ready to pass out any moment so she took off her cloak and folded it up.

"You should rest," she told him, pushing him down gently. "You can use this as a pillow."

"What about you?" he asked, laying down, too weak to argue.

"I'm not bruised and bloody, I think I'll survive a night without a pillow," she said warmly adjusting the cloak underneath his head.

"Thank you," he said quietly, returning her smile. He watched as she went over to the pool by them and dipped her hand in. She then took off her boots and rolled up her breeches and waded in.

She let out a deep, content sigh. "Gods, this is amazing, I can't believe this exists in this wintery hell."

"I'm jealous you can go in," he said with a laugh and then winced, rubbing his side, before closing his eyes.

She watched as sleep took him quite quickly. She walked out of the water and let her free dry before putting on her boots and walking outside to check on Sunwater. "We'll leave here soon, my friend, don't worry. I know you don't like this cold." He let out a soft purr as she petted him, tracing his beautiful blue scales.

"Gods, it's fucking cold," she said to herself. Having left her cloak with Benjen, she walked quickly back towards the cave. When she got back to the warm interior of the cave where Benjen was lying down, she saw he was still fast asleep. Good, if he rests now hopefully we can fly tomorrow. She still couldn't believe he had survived such an ordeal. What an odd trip - two Starks and a Reed rescued.

She sat down and looked towards the pool. It had been awhile since she had a bath and she desperately wanted to feel the warmth of the water all over her. She walked to the edge of the pool and began to disrobe before wading in.

It was exquisite. The water even seemed to make her muscles ease, they'd been so tight from riding for so long. She looked over at Benjen who was still asleep. She didn't really care if he saw her naked like this. She'd spent enough time in Essos where there was no shame in the naked form, but she knew it wasn't like that in Westeros, and he would probably feel uncomfortable. He was passed out as it was so she didn't worry.

She dove in and swam even though it was slightly shallow. Floating underneath, she thought of the Water Gardens and her cousins. She thought of mother watching as they played and she felt a wave of longing go through her. After staying underwater for a bit she finally stood up, swinging her hair back and sending water through the air.

"Gods!" She heard Benjen yell.

She yelped in response, not to him seeing her but to the sudden exclamation.

"I'm so sorry, I woke and looked to where I heard something and then you came out. I didn't mean to, I promise." He sounded incredibly concerned, stammering his way through the words.

She thought it was slightly amusing to he honest. Her back was towards him and when she turned her head to look over her shoulder, she saw him lying down, decidedly looking straight up at the top of the cave.

"It's alright, you don't have to worry. I promise I don't care if you saw me," she said, letting out a small laugh.

"I...I..well," he seemed completely jumbled. "How does it feel?" he asked finally, still staring straight up.

She sighed. "It's amazing. If you can manage it, you should come in. I'll help you and we can clean off the dried blood and dirt too."

She could have sworn she heard him gulp. "I should not see you like that, I'll be alright."

"Well you can close your eyes or I can just make sure to stay underwater too. I wouldn't mind having you smell a bit nicer once we start flying," she said lightly.

He laughed and then let out a deep sigh. "I wouldn't mind a bath either honestly. You sure you're alright with that?"

She breathed out an exasperated sigh in response. "Gods, yes, it's fine. Why is everyone north of Dorne so uptight?" She sunk into the water so she was covered. "Do you need help getting in or taking off your clothes?"

"No, no, I'll manage," he said weakly. She wondered if he really meant it but didn't want to push him. After a few minutes, she heard him moving slowly over to the pool. When she heard the sound of water splashing, she turned around to find him. He'd sunk in and was leaning against a rock on the edge.

"Gods…" he murmured, his eyes closed, content. "This is...everything."

She smiled and then thought of something. "Keep your eyes closed, I'm going to get out and grab something, and I don't want you to die from the sight, alright?"

He let out a huff of laughter. "They'll stay closed until you are back under, Princess."

She got out and walked to her small satchel and pulled out a small cloth before going back to the pool. Keeping the hand with the cloth above water, she waded over to where Benjen was. She sunk in and sat on the ground once she was by him so that was covered from her breasts down.

"Alright, you're safe, you can open your eyes," she said. He opened his eyes and gave her a questioning look. "I just want to help you get clean and this cloth will help." She raised an eyebrow at him to silently ask if she could proceed and he gave her a small nod in reply.

She dipped the cloth in the water and began to massage his face softly, slowly wiping away dirt and dried blood.

"It doesn't look like you have any deep cuts, but you've got some nasty bruises," she said quietly, scrubbing a bit at his neck.

"I still feel like I'm in some odd dream, in a cave beyond the Wall with a Targaryen princess. And there's a dragon outside," he murmured, his eyes followed her as she moved to his shoulders, before he looked back up to her face.

He found himself thinking of what had led him to join the Watch all those years ago...and how it related to how she lost a brother and was forced into life as an exile. He snapped away from those dark thoughts and focused on the face before him. Deep indigo eyes, warm olive skin and dark hair that framed her face. _What a face. Surely this is some mad dream that I'm in a cave with a beautiful naked woman. Or is it hell, this temptation?_

She looked up at him briefly. _He really does have such beautiful eyes,_ she found herself thinking. She swallowed some nerves that had bubbled up in her and went back to cleaning, picking up an arm to wash.

After she finished his arms, she looked at his chest and then at him and cleared her throat. "Well, that's probably as good as it gets with this tiny cloth, but I suppose it's better than nothing," she said, inspecting him with her eyes once more to see if there were any cuts she had missed.

He nodded, averting his eyes away from her. "Thank you, it was kind of you to do that."

"Wait, one more bit of blood here," Rhaenys murmured, moving closer to him and turning his face to her. She could hear his breath quicken as she placed one hand on his cheek as the other moved to wipe away some blood still on his jaw. Her eyes stayed there before they went up to his eyes which were fixed on her. They then stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Her eyes flicked to his lips, leading her to lick her own. She looked back up to his eyes before moving closer.

And then she gently placed her lips on his. She pulled back after a few moments and looked at him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in a whisper.

She smiled and kissed him again.


End file.
